Few band biographies take as honest and unflinching an approach as NOFX: The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories. Alternately funny, harrowing, insightful and violent, the book draws on author Jeff Alulis’ interviews with the punk band’s bassist Fat Mike, guitarists Eric Melvin and Aaron Abeyta (El Hefe), and drummer Erik “Smelly” Sandlin to push the narrative as well as reveal details about the band to fans—and to each other. They play April 18 at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay. The following excerpts are from Alulis’ interviews in the book with bandleader and Fat Wreck Chords record label co-founder Fat Mike.

Southern California has produced some of the best music and the most famous legends in punk history. …

… It was, and still is, the biggest punk scene in the world. But if the ’80s L.A. scene was known for one thing above all else, it was violence. It’s funny how some of us romanticize that era. I guess that’s because it was so fun and exciting … to those of us who managed to keep our original teeth.

I got a call from out of nowhere from a guy named Steve …

Erik had passed him my number and told him I played bass, so he asked if I wanted to jam with him and a few friends. I showed up to rehearsal and met the drummer Dylan, and the guitarist, Eric Melvin. … Steve quit after the first practice. We played our instrumental songs at a house party within a few weeks, and Dylan quit soon after that. Melvin and I hit it off famously though, and asked Erik Sandin to join us as drummer. We agreed to rehearse on his side of town to seal the deal. His dad had a plumbing workshop near their house where we could make a ton of noise.

We called ourselves NOFX. …

I’ve always hated that name. It was a rip-off of a Boston band called Negative FX that had recently broken up. Eric and Erik liked that name and suggested NOFX. I said, “It sounds just like Negative FX.” They said, “No, it’s different.” In fairness, I didn’t have any better ideas. I wanted to call us The Banned, but it was two against one. I thought, “Whatever … it’s not like it’s something I’m going to have to live with for the rest of my life.”

When I started Fat Wreck Chords in the early ’90s …

I asked my dad to cosign a bank loan for $20,000. … He may not have had faith in me, but he did loan me the money. And when The Longest Line recouped, and I offered to pay the loan in full, he told me not to worry about it. It’s funny, if I had been broke I’m sure he would’ve held the debt over my head forever, but because I was actually making money it was no big deal.

Smiley recommended his friend Aaron Abeyta …

… I suggested a Mexican-sounding name, like “El Jefe.” I don’t speak Spanish, so I didn’t realize the “h” sound is usually spelled with a “j.” You would think Aaron would know that, having been raised by Mexicans, but it turns out he speaks less Spanish than my daughter did at age 6 after hanging out with the nanny all day.

I was never all that driven to have a kid …

… but Duncan from Snuff told me it was a kind of love I could never otherwise understand. He said you can love your family, you can love your wife, but nothing comes close to the love of your own children. That love sounded like something I wouldn’t want to miss, and when I finally experienced it I discovered that Duncan was telling the truth.